


Changes

by IAmStoryteller



Series: Naturally Wavy Haired Guys Don't Make For a Functioning Dad [1]
Category: Gintama
Genre: Dadtoki, Family Feels, Gen, Post-Canon, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:14:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24539053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAmStoryteller/pseuds/IAmStoryteller
Summary: When Gintoki came home at 2 in the morning after a night of drinking, losing at pachinko, and getting punched by Otae from some imagined slight, Kagura wasn't home.  Initially shrugging it off, he passes out.  Then he wakes up six hours later with a hangover and no Kagura.
Relationships: Kagura & Sakata Gintoki
Series: Naturally Wavy Haired Guys Don't Make For a Functioning Dad [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1773511
Comments: 6
Kudos: 77





	Changes

**Author's Note:**

> Who binged all of Gintama's anime and the last two volumes of the manga because anime ended on a cliffhanger during quarantine? Yep, me.
> 
> Who has 10 other works-in-progress? Me.
> 
> Am I going to write a Dadtoki series? Of-fucking-course I am.
> 
> Please enjoy

Gintoki stumbled to the front door of “Odd Jobs Gin-chan.” He was drunk and broke once again. (He almost won double money at pachinko! He was so close!) He burped and then yawned as he opened the door. His giant dog, Sadaharu, was sitting at the entrance and he looked annoyed. How did Gin know the Odd Jobs dog was annoyed? Because as soon as Gintoki stepped inside, Sadaharu bit Gintoki’s head.

“Ah, you stupid dog, get off,” whined Gin, blood dripping down his forehead. “I’m too drunk for this.” 

The dog, thankfully, took pity on his master and let him go. Gin dragged himself to the living room/office and noted that Kagura wasn’t sleeping in her closet. He used his pinky to clean out his ear of earwax and sighed. It was two in the morning and perhaps he should have been more worried, but he was too drunk and Kagura was seventeen and she was probably having a sleepover with Princess Soyo and Nobume.

Gin eyed the dog’s bowls. “You ate, Sadaharu?”

“Arf,” barked Sadaharu. It must had been Tama that took pity on the Odd Jobs’ dog and came up to feed and walk him.

Scratching his stomach, he yawned. “Ah, well, off to bed.” He dragged his feet and barely landed on his futon. He had no energy to change into his pajamas or do anything else but fall asleep.

_~_~_~_~_~

The sun woke Gin up. His head throbbed. His mouth was dry and he knew that smelled like booze, cigarettes and wet dog. “Stupid hangovers.” Groaning, he smelled a mystery stain on his yukata and made a face. He sat himself up and heard Sadaharu whining outside his room. Gin shakily got on his feet and went out to see what was wrong with the dog.

Sadaharu was sitting there, sadly staring at his bowl. The dog looked pitiful so Gin took pity on him and grabbed the dog food bag to feed him.

“Oi, Kagura! It’s your job to feed Sadaharu his breakfast,” shouted Gintoki, wondering why Kagura wasn’t awake yet. He went over to her closest and to his surprise, she wasn’t there and her things were still folded nice and neat. He blinked a couple of times. “Sadaharu, did Kagura leave early today?”

Sadaharu stared at him and looked away to begin eating his food.

“Sadaharu, do you mean that Kagura never came home?”

Sadaharu continued to ignore Gin for the dog was too busy eating. Gin huffed and figured that it was not too strange that she didn’t come home to sleep. He suspected that she was either hanging out with the Princess or maybe she got into a fight with Okita, which happened with much more frequency lately. “Fine, ignore me, the man who pays for your food and shelter,” he told Sadaharu.

Gin went to the kitchen and made some instant coffee with more sugar than coffee to help his hangover headache. How did he function with hangovers? Sometimes, he just amazed himself that he functioned at all. He grabbed one of his parfaits, his last one, much to his chagrin, and sat himself on one of the couches.

It was strangely quiet without Shinpachi’s nagging and Kagura’s obnoxious morning behavior. Shinpachi was a town away doing an odd job that just needed one person and Shinpachi took it because he’d been depressed that Otsu the Idol got herself a boyfriend. Gin was glad that he didn’t need to go and tend a field with some old farmers. But as he finished his coffee and parfait, Kagura didn’t show up home. 

“What am I going to do with that girl?”

Gin went outside and saw Tama washing the windows of Snack Otose and yelled down to the robot, “Tama! Have you and the old hags seen Kagura?”

Tama looked up. “No, we have not, Gintoki-sama. The last time we saw Kagura-san was yesterday morning. Did she not come home last night? How unusual for her!”

A pit of dread formed ever so slightly in Gin’s stomach, as he had been telling himself all along that it wasn’t a bit deal that Kagura didn’t come home. Then his stomach rumbled, because having a hangover, eating a parfait and drinking a cup of sugar with a dash of coffee was not sitting well with him. He rushed to the bathroom to vomit.

After finishing his business in the bathroom, because that was horrifying, he got himself to his desk, head still pounding and his mouth disgusting. He grabbed his land-line phone and dialed Kagura’s number. It rang and rang, and then there was a click and the voicemail started.

_“Hi! This is the Queen of Kabuki District, Kagura, leave a message!”_

After the beep, Gintoki shouted into the phone, “Where are you? You have Sadaharu responsibilities, you troublesome child! Get home this instant!” And the pit of dread grew and made him nauseous again. 

Sadaharu gave him a pity-filled look. 

“What? I’m not worried, okay?”

He pulled out the flip-phone that the kids forced on him (which he always forgot and barely knew how to use) and found the number. He pressed call and waited.

_“Morning, Gintoki-san, what do you want? I’m very busy working.”_

“Yeah, yeah, Nobume. Is Kagura with the Princess?” Gintoki rubbed his stomach in an attempt to quell the rumblings. 

_“We have not seen Kagura-san since yesterday morning, but never fear, she’s a strong one, I’m sure she’s just fine.”_ Then, Nobume was done with the conversation and hung up on Gin. 

Gin sighed, pinched his arm and readied himself. “Sadaharu, get ready, we’re going out!” Gin changed into another but clean version of his signature outfit. He brushed his teeth, attempted to comb his hair (and then gave up), and took some painkillers for his headache.

He and Sadaharu exited their home and headed out. He pointed the opposite direction and ordered Sadaharu, “You go that way and sniff her out. I’m going to talk to a certain policeman.”

Gin headed toward where he knew that Okita Sougo was slacking off on his patrol. Being that Okita was Kagura’s One True Rival, it stood to reason that he’d know her location. Gin tried to not to rush, but he found himself at a familiar dango shop where Sougo was sleeping (or not sleeping) at a table.

“Slacking off again, I see,” said Gintoki, sitting in the chair in front of Sougo.

Not even moving his head or moving his eye-mask off his face, Sougo said, “Boss, I’m not buying you food. It’s not my fault you’re broke all the time.”

“Now, Sofa-kun, don’t be like that and for your information I’m not here for that,” said Gin, eye twitching. 

“It’s Sougo, Boss.”

“Do you know where Kagura is?”

“Oh, Boss, tell me you didn’t lose the piggy China girl. Call the police, it’s child endangerment,” drawled Sougo. He had no intention to answer Gin’s question. “Oh, wait, I am the police. What should I do?”

“You’re an evil child, Soda-kun,” said Gin, getting up from his seat.

“Boss, how many times do I have to tell you that it’s Sougo, damnit,” replied Sougo. 

But Gin ignored him as he left the dango stand and headed towards the Shimura dojo. It was his last resort to get any help from that gorilla woman (who had punched him very hard last night, is that why his headache wasn’t going away). However, Shimura Tae was one of the leaders of the Kabuki District. (Apparently, Gin was still considered one, as Otose’s replacement??) And Kagura looked up to Otae, so maybe Kagura was at the Shimura house.

As it took him quite a bit of a walk to get to the Shimura dojo and he was just in time to see Kondo go flying over the dojo walls and landed on the sidewalk right in front of Gin. Sighing, Gin helped the idiot stalker stand up. “Geez, Gori, when are you gonna get it through your thick skull that Otae-san is not interested in you? I thought you knew that she and Kyuubei got together, you know?”

Kondo cried, “I know, I know. What brings you by?”

“You’re a police officer, so do your job. I’m looking for Kagura, she didn’t come home last night,” said Gin, trying not to sound worried.

Standing up straight and becoming serious, Kondo said, “Well, Odd Jobs, hate to break to you, but she’s seventeen. Why I remember how Sougo was at that age only a few years ago!”

Gin’s eye twitched and he shouted, “What is that supposed to mean, huh? Don’t put Kagura on the same degenerate playing field as that sadist kid of yours! She’s a good girl! And won’t be doing any nonsense like dating or kissing or whatever until she’s 30! She promised me.” 

“What is all the screaming about?” Otae and Kyuubei stepped outside, probably check that Kondo left or that he wasn’t actually, you know, dead. 

“China Girl’s being a teenager and Odd Jobs’ is having a moment,” said Kondo. “She stayed out all night.”

Gin restrained himself admirable as he didn’t punt the damn Gorilla into outer space. “She’s not here, Otae-san?”

Tae titled her head, but it was scary. If any other girl or young woman did it, it’d be cute. “Gin-san, did you call her cell phone?”

“Of course, I did! I’m not an idiot,” Gin snapped. “It went to voicemail.”

Kyuubei asked, “Did you call the Princess?”

“Yes. And I also talked to Okita-kun,” said Gin. Tae and Kyuubei traded looks, looks that said volumes to Gin and made that pit of dread build up inside his stomach (or maybe it was just indigestion from his poor eating habits and drinking). “Does she have a boyfriend? Tell me, she doesn’t, my heart won’t be able to take the betrayal. Who is it? I’ll kill him.” He dramatically held his heart.

“She doesn’t,” said Tae, shaking her head. 

“But knowing her, she likely got caught up in something. She’s a strong fighter, so I’m sure she’ll come home soon,” said Kyuubei, calmly. “Gintoki, you worry too much.”

“Why aren’t you two more worried? She’s a—”

“Not a little girl,” said Tae, sternly. Kyuubei nodded in agreement with her girlfriend. “Kagura-chan is almost 18. That’s old enough to do anything in the Kabuki District.”

“Agreed,” said Kondo. “She traveled space for two years. I think she can handle anything here.”

“You’re all traitors,” said Gin, grimacing.

_~_~_~_~_~

After storming away from the Shimura dojo, Gin headed to Kagura’s favorite park. He caught up with Sadaharu there. And then, he interrogated Madao and the other homeless in the park, but they were useless as ever. They hadn’t seen Kagura recently. Sending Sadaharu home, Gin pulled out the cell phone that he remembered this time and tried calling Kagura’s number again. It was straight to voicemail. He hung up.

Then, Gin made a mad dash around all of Edo/Tokyo (he’s still not used to it being called Tokyo). He checked out Kagura’s favorite places—the shop where she bought her pickled seaweed; her favorite clothing store and the new American-style burger place that opened up. He ran into Zenzou and had a brief conversation with him, where the ninja leader annoyed Gin by saying the same thing as Tae, Kyuubei and Kondo.

After that, Gin ran to Yoshiwara, certain that Tsukuyo would have information, but she didn’t and she also told him that was worrying too much. She did say that she’d keep an eye out for Kagura and send her home, so at least, Tsukuyo was somewhat helpful. Worse than that, Sarutobi was visiting Tsukuyo and Hinowa, so Sarutobi ultimately decided to attach herself to him while he searched for Kagura.

Gin opted to ignore her and the weight on his body as he rushed around the city. Thankfully, he ran into Zenzou again and managed to paw her off on him.

Shortly after, Gin found himself running into Elizabeth and Zura. Briefly explaining the situation, Zura said he’d help “for our noble Leader.” Except, this was Zura and Gin should have known better, but he wasn’t thinking straight!

One explosion, a car chase, and three cases of mistaken identity later, Gin was exhausted and his headache was twenty times worse, as Zura ran away when Hijitaka and Jimmy showed up, leaving Gin to explain what the heck happened. He was sitting in the back of Hijikata’s police car, handcuffs on his wrists, and sulking.

“Relax, I just taking you home, you big baby,” said Hijikata, deadpan. “Sougo radioed that China girl didn’t come home and that you were worried. So I figured you were gonna do something stupid.”

“Okita did, did he,” asked Gintoki, wondering if he needed to keep an eye on Sougo and Kagura’s “rivalry.”

Hijikata looked at the mirror to level him a look. “Don’t worry, he’s in trouble for using the radio for a personal reason. So, care to tell me, why this got you out of sorts, Odd Jobs? I mean, China girl does what she wants like the stupid-ass guardian of hers.”

“Hurtful,” said Gintoki. He looked at his hands as they passed familiar streets, headed towards Gin’s home. “And I don’t know.” Why was Kagura not coming home such a big deal? She was a good kid, so there was no way she was doing anything bad. He had done way worse things at 17 than she’d ever could, so Gin shouldn’t be getting so worried and harried.

“It’s hard when the kid who was your responsibility grew up when you weren’t looking and suddenly they don’t need you anymore,” said Hijikata, eyes firmly on the road and voice suspiciously even.

Gin scowled.

He hated it when Hijikata was right.

_~_~_~_~_~

Gin entered his home, where Sadaharu was waiting, wagging his tail until he saw Gin and then, the dog sulked. Patting Sadaharu on the head, Gin sat himself on the coffee table so he can stare directly at the door. He pulled the cell phone out of his pocket and called Kagura’s phone again, which once again when straight to voicemail.

“Kagura, do you want your troublesome father and brother to kill me? Get your ass home immediately, you brat!” He yelled into it as it’d make her come home sooner. Then, Gin threw the phone on the couch, irritated that she wasn’t picking up the phone.

Sadaharu whined, as he missed Kagura too, and the only one who understood Gin’s worry. Wait until he told Shinpachi. 

“It’s gonna be fine, Sadaharu,” said Gin, glaring at the door as if he can summon her.

Gin sat there, grabbing some of the Shounen Jump stashed under the couch to occupy him, until mid-afternoon. The door slide open and Kagura entered, “I’m home!” Sadaharu pounced on Kagura as she patted him.

The sight of Kagura made Gin feel better, but at the same time, he was angry. He rushed over to her and pulled her away from Sadaharu. “Are you ok?” He checked her face, neck, arms and legs for any signs of injuries.

“Uh, Gin-chan, what are you doing, uh-huh?” She gave him a blank look. “I’m fine.”

Gin stood up straight and was happy that she wasn’t hurt, but now he was very upset. “Where the heck were you? You didn’t come home all night! I searched the city for you. You didn’t pick up your phone. Do you know how worried I was that you had gotten kidnapped or worse? You can’t just do that to me. I don’t want to get grey hair, Kagura-chan! Any grey hairs I get are all your fault. You have a curfew now! 11pm! No later. Honestly, what do you have to say for yourself?”

Kagura gave him an unimpressed look and stormed past him to the desk where she opened one of the draws and took out a planner. She rushed back over and opened the planner and pointed at the calendar day for yesterday.

It read “Shinpachi – Away Job; Gin-san – Off; Kagura-chan – Takamagahara FREE COUPON ^_^”.

“I broke my phone. And since I was too tired, Kyoushirou-san let me sleep there,” said Kagura, scowling. “Gin-chan, Shinpachi and I started this planner because someone has the tendency to disappear without telling us and doesn’t bring his phone with him. Uh-huh, try to remember it next time.”

“Oh,” said Gin. Well, he was an asshole. He laughed awkwardly as Kagura scowled at him, and Sadaharu sided with her, “Don’t listen to me. What do I know, huh, Kagura-chan?” He said it in a placating voice.

Kagura gave a smarmy laugh, “Gin-chan’s worried because I’m a woman now that I’m gonna leave him all alone.”

Gin paled and covered his ears. “Lalalalala, no, I don’t want to hear that, lalalala.”

Grinning like the menace she was, Kagura said, hand on her hips, “Gin-chan, whatever you were doing at 17 is not what I’m doing. I’m way more responsible and smarter than you, uh-huh!”

“You’re right, Kagura-chan, I’m sorry,” said Gin, still feeling like he overreacted for no reason. “Just call if you’re gonna be out all night. Because Gin-san is stupid and forgets things like the planner.”

“Kay, Gin-chan. You should carry your phone with you, so I can call you if it happens,” said Kagura, still grinning.

“Fine,” said Gin. After an awkward silence where Gin realized that somehow Kagura won whatever this was, Gin asked, “What do you want for dinner?”

“Egg-on-rice!”

“That’s a breakfast food!”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> let me know what you think!


End file.
